


til i save your heart, and to take your soul

by orphan_account



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Demon Summoning, Fluff, Ghosts, Hermann is a gay idiot, M/M, Newt is a ghost, Underage Drinking, What else is new, but i'll try keep it lowkey, general spookiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-28 05:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16717491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hermann is the boy from class 4B who doesn't believe in ghosts, miracles, or love at first sight.Newt is the boy who's going to prove him wrong./ lyrics from 'seven devils' by florence + the machine





	1. fons et erigo

**Author's Note:**

> ahh it feels good to be writin a fic again! this is my first pacific rim fic + my first fic on ao3 so i hope you all enjoy it  
> trigger warnings listed at the beginning of each chapter, also the chapters have latin titles bc im like that  
> i'm trying to upload at least once a week so we'll see how that goes. you can check out my tumblr @newtcubed for more info

**tw; _brief mention of q + r slurs_**

 

Hermann was tired; exhausted, even. Tired of the noise, of the socialisation, of the people around him. Parties never had been his thing, and he had known that tonight would be no different; yet ahead he had went. He supposed that there was little alternative; either go to Tendo's Halloween.. thing, or lose one of his few remaining friends.

Tendo Choi was definitely the last person he would have expected to be friends with- while not necessarily popular, he was an athlete, with a good head on his shoulders, and a pretty girl at his side. Hermann was, well, Hermann. Top of the class in every subject bar physical education. Probably going to disappear to some expensive university on the other side of the globe and never look back at his shitty high school experience, fraught with sleepless nights and mornings that seemed to drag on forever. With people in his classes that he couldn't care less about, with walks home punctuated by "queer- teacher's pet- retard", to name just a few. He never viewed it as bullying; moreso an unfortunate part of society that he had to learn to live with.

 

He was leaning over the balcony outside Tendo's room, gazing over the city skyline. Hundreds, thousands of buildings, lit up and shining in accordance with the yearly tradition. Behind him, the party buzzed along to the rhythm of some song he couldn't care to name. He'd been out here almost half an hour; he doubted anyone would come to find him anytime soon. Hermann was alone, after all.

Almost.

 

"If you insist on smoking-" he spoke suddenly, wiping the layer of mist off his glasses as he stood, "Must you blow it into my face?"

 

The boy beside him- a little younger, probably in the year below him- laughed, twirling a silver e-cigarette between his fingers. "Sorry there, mate," he mumbled, raising it to his lips again and making a show of turning to face away from Hermann before continuing. "You not heading inside?"

 

Hermann shrugged. "Not exactly my scene."

 

"Gottlieb!"

 

He turned, somewhat surprised, before the glass doors behind him swung open with a loud screech. The muffled music and red light flooded out into the night air, illuminating the young girl who was stood in the doorway. Hermann recognised her quickly with a relieved smile. Mako Mori, one of Tendo's friends, or his girlfriend's friend, or something; regardless of her relationship to Hermann, she was nice enough, and she was often on the school's debate team alongside him.

 

"Tendo's been looking for you," Mako stated, fidgeting with her witch's hat. Almost everyone was dressed in some sort of spooky getup, as Tendo had requested; Hermann had originally made do with a small bat charm pinned to his jumper, but had been begrudgingly convinced soon after arriving into getting two more bats painted onto his cheeks. Again, not his style, but Tendo's puppy eyes were a force to be reckoned with.

 

"Really? I assumed he'd be too busy having fun to worry about me," Hermann responded dryly. Mako rolled her eyes and snorted.

 

"The party doesn't start until Hermann Gottlieb walks in," she joked, walking back into the flat. With one last glance at the horizon and a courteous nod to his balconymate, Hermann followed.

 

As he had predicted, the party was even busier than it had been when he first arrived; at least a hundred bodies were probably cramped into Tendo's penthouse. Or, his parents, who were off on a business trip or something of the sort. Hermann winced as he heard the sound of glass shattering and wondered how Tendo was going to clean this mess up.

Speak of the literal devil. Tendo Choi was just up ahead, easy to spot by the bright red devil horns on his head, and the equally scarlet suit he wore. Surprisingly well dressed, considering his usual casual look. He was between two others, an older werewolf Hermann quickly recognised as Mako's boyfriend- Raleigh, was it?- and another who was completely unseeable, due to the blanket over their head. A ghost, Hermann supposed, hiding his laughter with a well timed cough.

 

"Herms!" Tendo's eyes seemed to light up when he said the nickname, waving across the room. "I've been looking for you."

 

"So I heard," he responded, having to speak louder than usual to be heard over the techno mix that was now playing. "I was actually thinking about going home soon." This was no lie- it was no secret that Hermann would have rather been curled up at home with a book or some studying than.. here. Still, he felt a pang of guilt when Tendo's face dropped.

 

"No way, Herms. You promised me this year."

 

"Promised..?"

 

Raleigh and the ghost snickered at each other as Mako elbowed him in the arm. "The waterworks, Gottlieb!"

 

Oh. Oh, fuck, not that. "I said nothing of the sort," Hermann rebutted, a little too fast to be convincing.

 

"Boo hoo, I got it in writing." Tendo stuck out his tongue. "You've been putting it off for years. We're all eighteen now, responsible adults, so there's no going back."

 

Hermann sucked air in through gritted teeth. It was true. As long as he had known Tendo, the boy had had one goal: to explore the so-called 'haunted' waterworks factory that was on the other side of town. It had been shut years ago, years before Hermann was born- but never torn down, just left to fall into derelict and despair. The rumours of it being a ghost hub spread, as all rumours do, and Tendo seemed to view it as almost a rite of passage. Every Halloween without fail he would beg Hermann to go there with him, and every year Hermann protested, and every year Tendo ended up not going because "it's no fun unless we all go".

But this was their last year at school, of course. Of course, this was their last chance before they all went off to university or college or work or whatever; so of course Hermann must have agreed, probably months ago, to placate the bastard. And now he had to deal with the consequences.

 

"Don't pussy out now, mate," Raleigh spoke up, causing Hermann to give him a glare. He was a transfer from Alaska, if he remembered correctly, and his accent only confirmed this. Hermann was, of course, German-born, but his family had moved to America before he started to speak, so his accent was a bit of a smorgasbord.

 

The ghost stayed remarkably silent, and Hermann considered asking who was under the damn sheet; he wondered if it was Chuck Hansen, an Australian kid who was a year younger than him but still seemed to follow Tendo's crowd like a lost puppy. But instead he just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose, if you had my word-"

 

He was interrupted by a resounding cheer from the other four. Christ, he hadn't seen Tendo this happy since he offered to fix his bootleg arcade machine.

 

"If we're all in agreement then what's keeping us?" Mako exclaimed, giving Hermann her typical million-dollar smile as she linked arms with Raleigh. They began to leave, the ghost quickly hurrying after them. Tendo laughed nervously as they moved towards the door, keeping himself in place.

 

"Are you really leaving all these people in your apartment unsupervised?" Hermann raised an eyebrow as he passed his friend.

 

"Alison's promised to look after it," he said dismissively, though it was clear he wasn't fully happy about the arrangements.

 

"Really? I thought she'd be coming along."

 

"Not her thing."

 

Hermann snorted. "It's hardly mine. Besides, an abandoned area with nobody around to hear you, I should think it was right up you two's respective alleys-"

 

He was cut off by a sharp slap on the arm, and he laughed as Tendo strode ahead of him. He had such a short temper; still, he would have forgiven him by the time they were at the waterworks, if they even got there. That was the only thing keeping him calm- the certainty in his mind that the others would chicken out before they could even see the building on the horizon.

 

 

-

 

 

"Want some?"

 

Hermann cocked an eyebrow at Mako, who was waving a small bottle in his face. The two of them were in the back of Raleigh's Range Rover, alongside the ghost that they had still not been able to find the identity of. The damn sheet was practically nailed to his head, and Tendo refused to tell them.

 

"What is it?" It looked like water, but Hermann knew better than that.

 

"Vodka," Mako responded, "Straight." His surprise must have been evident, because she just laughed and took another sip.

 

"Hope you're not a lightweight," Tendo snorted from the passenger seat. Raleigh was driving- it was meant to be around a ten minute journey by car, apparently.

 

"I'm a woman who can handle her drink. Unlike some people," Mako shot back. "Does prom night 2016 ring any bells?"

 

"Mako-!"

 

"Stop fighting, both of you," Raleigh snapped. "It's like dealing with fucking toddlers when the two of you are together, honestly."

 

The ghost sniggered vaguely at that, Mako sinking back into her seat. Hermann rolled his eyes as he shuffled over a little to lean out of the open car window. It was bitterly cold, as you would expect from late night October; snow wasn't due to fall for some time, but already the ground was covered in a thin layer of ice. By now- 11pm, he reckoned- most of the trick or treaters had vanished from the streets, but the decorations all around the city helped to keep the mood up.

 

"You nervous yet?" Mako spoke to him again, straightening herself a little. Hermann honestly didn't know, so he just grunted in response.

 

"Why would you be nervous?" Raleigh asked, now fiddling with the radio. Something 80s-sounding blared through the speakers, causing the ghost to sit up in excitement, kicking his feet to the rhythm. "It's not like it's actually haunted. Or even if it is, it's like... ghosts don't come out unless you summon them."

 

"Which is exactly why genius over here brought a Ouija board," Mako groaned, gesturing at Tendo, who glared daggers at her.

 

"Seriously, Tendo? Where the bloody hell did you find one of those?" Raleigh took a sudden turn, making everyone in the back jolt to the left.

 

"Internet. Don't worry, it's just for fun," he replied shortly.

 

"Won't be fun when we get our bodies fucking possessed," Mako chimed in. Admittedly, she didn't look too upset by this development; more excited, to be honest. Hermann scowled a little when Tendo asked him for his opinion.

 

"Ghosts aren't real, so it was a waste of money," he snapped, resulting in boos from the other passengers.

 

"How can you say ghosts aren't real, Gottlieb?" Mako whined, punching him softly in the arm.

 

"He's got a point. I mean, I don't think anyone's ever seen one," Raleigh pointed out. "Not in real life."

 

"Nobody's seen a polar bear in real life, but we know they're real, don't we?" Tendo interjected.

 

There was a brief moment of collective silence as everyone processed the thought, and then everyone erupted- Raleigh and Hermann into shouts, Mako into peals of laughter, and the ghost into song as Rick Astley had just started to play. His thick Australian accent and the way he squeaked out the high notes only confirmed Hermann's suspicions that it was, indeed, Chuck. Sighing as Tendo started to apologise, he buried his head into his parka and watched the city lights blur past through tired eyes. He would have fallen asleep, if not for the unbearable feeling of apprehension in his chest.


	2. ad astra per aspera

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally i didnt want to publish this chapter straightaway cause im not finished chapter three but i felt like ch1 was kinda boring.. heh

The waterworks loomed over them like a tombstone, a three-story tall building of stone and brick. The grey walls were punctuated with bright splashes of graffiti that just unnerved Hermann more- despite being abandoned, it was clear the place hadn’t been left alone, and he hoped that they didn’t run into anyone while they were in there.

 

“If my car ends up getting keyed, I’ll kill you,” Raleigh warned them both. He’d parked it right beside the building, or as close as they could get. It seemed to be sectioned off with a thick layer of chainlink fencing. This was something Tendo pointed out, looking surprised.

 

“What, did you think you were just going to waltz in there? It’s condemned,” Hermann reminded him.

 

“I expected there to be like, a gate, or something..”

 

“Don’t tell me this is your first time here!” Raleigh exclaimed, eyeing the fence. It was too tall to climb, not without risking some serious injury. “I thought you would’ve at least checked the place out beforehand, mate.”

 

Mako sighed her usual ‘Goddamnit, I’m the only one here who knows what they’re doing’ sigh. “I came up here to smoke with a couple of guys once, there’s a tear in the fence round back. Come on, I think I can find it.” She took lead, as she always did. Chuck followed her hurriedly, with Raleigh trailing behind slightly.

 

“Well, at least she’s calm about this whole ordeal,” Hermann grumbled, narrowing his eyes at Tendo. Despite everyone’s growing anxiety, nobody was willing to be the first to admit they couldn’t do it. 

 

It wasn’t long before the group came to a halt. Mako has pulled out her phone and was using at as a flashlight to illuminate a large hole in the fence. Bad news- it was at least six feet above the ground.

 

“We’ll have to climb a bit, but it’s better than climbing the whole twelve foot fence,” Mako explained, already trying to get a footing on the thin metal chains. “You should all be fine with that, hm?”

 

Tendo shrugged silently, while Raleigh just stepped forward to help Mako up. Chuck was already on the other side of the fence, sitting on a tree stump. Despite the cloak covering his face, Hermann could tell he was already bored.

 

“Herms.” He snapped to attention when he realised Tendo was waving his hand in his face. “You alright?”

 

He wasn’t, but he sucked air in through his teeth and nodded. “Don’t know how I’m meant to get up there with my bad leg, though-”

 

“Oh, shut up about your leg!” Tendo rolled his eyes dismissively, turning to help Raleigh climb up. Raleigh practically spat in his face.

 

“What about your leg, Hermann?” Mako asked him, now on the other side of the fence. “I thought that healed ages ago.”

 

“Never properly,” he responded grimly. 

 

“Fucking joke, it is. He sprained his ankle in a gym class, three years ago, claims it still gives him trouble,” Tendo snapped, hissing a little as he stabbed his hand against the chainlink.

 

“And it does!” Hermann protested sharply. He wasn’t lying; his leg still ached daily, when he was climbing stairs, when he was standing, sometimes even when he was sitting. It had a tendency to act up at the least convenient moments.

 

“Right, okay, whatever you say. Just climb the damn fence, will you?”

 

Hermann rolled his eyes and stepped forward, scrabbling to get a grip on the fence. It was freezing cold, and dug red streaks into his already pale palms, but he weathered it with a bitter sigh and raised his good leg. Tendo was on the other side, hands outstretched as though he expected Hermann to fall. Typical. He supposed that it shouldn't annoy him- he was just trying to help- but Hermann always had been stubbornly independent, and he got the sudden urge to try and scale the whole fence fuelled by pure spite.

 

Of course, he didn't. He reached the hole with relative ease (despite his right leg starting to ache) and swung over, landing on two feet with a loud thump. The ground outside had been mud and dirt, but now that they were inside the perimeter the dull scenery was punctuated with patches of dying grass.

 

"I can't remember where the main door is, but there'll be an entrance somewhere," Mako stated to nobody in particular. Chuck seemed to have taken to her, as he was practically attached to her side. Raleigh was also beside her, linking hands as they turned to study the building. Being closer hadn't helped calm Hermann's nerves; rather, elevated them. Now up close he could see every crack, every shattered window, every broken bottle and candy wrapper scattered across the floor. It looked anything but abandoned- it looked like a criminal hideout.

 

It took very little time for them to find an entrance, a set of wooden double doors that were somehow still attached to the walls. Inside wasn't much prettier than the outside; still full of litter, graffiti, and general decay. No lights, either, or none that seemed to work. Thankfully, the holes and windows let some moonlight in, meaning they could at least see a little without their phones.

 

"Would it not have been better to come during the day?" Mako pointed out, squinting at the dimly lit room. It looked like a corridor; there were stairs at one end, which Chuck was already starting to drift towards.

 

"Nothing spooky about daytime, is there? We need the true Hallowe'en atmosphere," Tendo proclaimed, rubbing his hands together. His fake bravado had returned once more, and he took the lead now, swinging his backpack off of his shoulders as he climbed the stairs. "Watch your step."

 

Hermann ascended the steps a little slower than usual, on account of his leg now being a major pain in the ass. By the time he'd reached the floor, the others were already scattered around. This room was far larger, and open. It looked as though the outer right wall used to be glass, but was now completely gone, resulting in a wide view over the nearby area- if you peered far enough over the dark treetops, you could almost see the city lights still glimmering. On the other side, there was another room that (judging by the design of the doors) had once been a bathroom, and another set of stairs. One thing he noted about the room was the sudden lack of graffiti and vandalism- despite the clear decay, it seemed noticeably less.. abused than the first room.

 

"I like it," said Mako, perched at the right of the room with her legs hanging over the edge. Although they were only one floor up, he still couldn't bear himself to join her. "Kinda cute, in a way, huh?"

 

"I'd hardly call it that," Tendo shot back as he emerged from the bathrooms. "Don't bother going in there, it's just some old sinks and shit, and a hole in the floor."

 

"You think this is a good place to do.. whatever the hell you brought along?" Raleigh asked, gesturing vaguely to Tendo's bag. 

 

"Seriously, Rals? This is the second room. We haven't even explored yet, let's not end the fun yet." Mako stood up, dusting herself off a little as she joined the rest of the group in the center. Hermann stayed decidedly quiet, instead taking in the scenery. Although it was.. odd, scary, downright terrifying, he couldn't deny that Mako was right- he was curious to what the rest of the building looked like.

 

"Fine." Raleigh jerked a thumb towards the next stairwell. "See what's up there."

 

The second staircase was longer and steeper than the first, as they quickly found out; it was a weird, spiral staircase that reminded Hermann of the narrow ones you found in archaic castles, and made him wonder how old the building exactly was. As they climbed, he asked the others.

 

"No idea. When was water invented?" Raleigh asked, then quickly corrected himself- "When did they start doing waterworks and shit like that, you know what I meant! Stop laughing!"

 

"I just know it was shut down in like, the eighties. I remember reading about it after that kid died," Mako explained.

 

"A kid died?"

 

Hermann's blood ran cold.

 

"Yeah, some guy came up here by himself a few years back. Can't remember his name, but he was roundabout our age." Mako shrugged. "He was missing for a whole week before they found his body. Broken neck, must've fallen, poor bastard."

 

The group was silent for the first time in a while as they contemplated this, reaching the top of the staircase. It had lead to what seemed like a balcony, overlooking the main part of the waterworks. It had just occurred to Hermann that he never actually knew what they used to do here- the name 'waterworks' alone wasn't much to go off of- but judging by the large tank that was now empty, he assumed it was sewage storage or something. There was a variety of pipes and machines connected to it that were now obsolete, and everything seemed to be coated in a thin layer of scum.

 

Tendo leaned over the edge of the balcony, which (surprisingly) was fenced off, though not high enough to prevent anyone from jumping. "End of the line, huh?"

 

"Disappointing, honestly," Mako shrugged. "There's probably another entrance that can take us down to the tank, there might be some other rooms there-"

 

"No, here's fine," Tendo waved his hand dismissively. "There's plenty of space for us all to sit here."

 

"Say, Mako," Raleigh spoke up. "The kid you mentioned."

 

"Hm?" Mako glanced up, kneeling down to help Tendo unpack. 

 

"Where exactly did he die? Do you know?"

 

She shook her head. "Sorry, I don't. It was a really fuckin' weird death though, like all sorts of creepy details about it. It's the entire reason everyone says this place is haunted."

 

“Creepy details, like what?”

 

“Like, uh..” she paused, contemplating. “There was a bunch of symbols carved into the ground. Not in any language they recognised. And they found traces of concrete under his fingernails, so..”

 

“He scraped symbols into concrete with his fingers?” Hermann asked in disbelief.

 

“So it appeared. They still don’t know what they mean, they did all sorts of checks and nothing came back. People reckon he was possessed by a demon right before he died.”

 

Hermann flinched, a chill running down his spine as he sat beside her. “Jesus..”

 

“Some investigators claim his body was scorched, but no fire or lighters were found in the vicinity,” she continued, looking surprisingly unfazed. “And there was an eye carved into his ch-”

 

“Alright, that’s enough!” Tendo said sharply, slamming a box onto the floor with a sudden thump. “I don’t want to know the exact details of how some poor sucker died here. You’re just making me nervous.”

 

“Well, you are about to try and summon a-” Raleigh started, before he glanced down at the box and frowned. Hermann was confused, until he followed his gaze.

 

“Fucking- Hasbro? _Hasbro?”_  Try as he might, he couldn’t quite contain his shocked annoyance. As much as he didn’t want to do this whole thing, this was more insulting than relieving.

 

“Something about a toy company selling occult shit rubs me the wrong way,” Mako laughed, though she looked thoroughly unimpressed by Tendo’s choice of Ouija board. “Talking to spirits, now for ages eight through eighty.”

 

“Does it really matter who sells it? A board is a board,” Tendo scowled at them both, opening the box. Inside was the board, a flimsy-looking wooden thing with a variety of symbols, letters and numbers printed on in elegant cursive. Beside it was what Hermann remembered was a planchette. It was heart-shaped, but looked like it was made out of plastic- aside from the glass circle in the centre he supposed was for reading the letters. Hermann did know a little bit about Ouija, but he’d never done any proper research, because he never thought he’d be doing such an idiotic thing.

 

“You do know how to do this, right?” Raleigh asked.

 

“Yeah, I read a WikiHow article.”

 

Mako and Hermann looked at each other, a mutual look of irritation on their faces.

 

“Well, what’s keeping us?” Tendo said, fiddling with the planchette. “Best start it off while the moon is still high, I think that’s relevant.” Hermann doubted this, but didn’t bother to speak up.

 

“Hold on-” Mako glanced around. “Where’s Chuck?”

 

They’d lost him.

 

“He probably wandered off. I’ll go find him,” Raleigh rolled his eyes, standing up. Unsurprisingly, Tendo stood too.

 

“You shouldn’t go alone, I-” Tendo laughed awkwardly. “I’ll come with you- Raleigh!” He dropped the planchette to chase after Raleigh, who had already taken off. Mako snorted as the two of them left, reaching over to pick up the instruction manual. Hermann leant back against the fence, looking up to the ceiling. The roof was practically gone, leaving only a few patches of protection from outdoors. Between the metal scaffolding, bars, and cobwebs, he could see the moon; full, he noted, in an inky black sky. Luckily, it wasn’t cloudy tonight, so the stars were out and shining brightly, illuminating their surroundings.

 

“Look into the future, have fun, and remember,” Mako read aloud in a mocking tone. “The Ouija board is just a game.. Or is it?” She feigned shock at this last line, making Hermann giggle a little. “Bullshit, this is.” And so she promptly turned and threw the manual over the fence.

 

“Mako!” he said sharply, though he was laughing.

 

“What? Not like Hasbro’s manual is going to give us much help with.. This.” She gestured at the board, looking annoyed.

 

“So do you not believe in stuff like this?”

 

She shrugged. “Eh. I’d like to believe, but I don’t think we’re gonna get much from this. Maybe that’s for the best. After all, we don’t want to end up down there with the manual and Newton.”

 

Hermann raised his head at the name. “Is that the person who died?”

 

“Yeah, I think so. Newton Geiszler, German-born, but moved here when he was young.” She snorted a little, punching Hermann in the arm. “Sound familiar?”

 

Before he could respond, Tendo and Raleigh appeared from the stairwell, the still-costumed Chuck in tow. “Found ‘im,” Raleigh announced. “Let’s get to it.”

 

All five of them sat in a circle around the board. Hermann couldn’t deny that the atmosphere was chilling, even if he didn’t believe anything would happen. He noted that Tendo’s hands were shaking as he placed them on the planchette, which seemed too small for five, yet they managed.

 

“Was there no instruction manual?” Tendo asked, glancing over at the box.

 

Hermann stifled a laugh when Mako responded “I guess not.”

 

“Well, we should designate a medium,” Tendo said. “That’s what I read. One person to ask the questions, so the ghost doesn’t get too confused.”

 

“Should be you, man,” Mako replied, causing Tendo to flinch.

 

“No way! I bought the board and planned this whole thing, someone else talk to the damn spirits.”

 

“If there even is one,” Raleigh rolled his eyes. “Maybe Chuck should do it. You’ve been awfully quiet, kid.” Even through the cloth, Hermann could sense Chuck’s distress, and he bit his lip.

 

“I’ll do it,” he spoke up. The group looked at him, surprised. “What? May as well.” Pretty fucking stupid decision, Hermann, he told himself, but he didn’t take back the offer.

 

“Well, uh-” Tendo nodded. “I suppose we can just start then. Just.. start simple.”

 

The planchette was in the middle of the board, everyone holding onto it lightly with two fingers. Hermann swallowed deeply and closed his eyes.

 

“Um… are there any spirits here?”

 

There was a long, long pause. The group sat in a tense silence, none of them looking away from the board. Though he knew it was his imagination, Hermann could swear the room had just gotten a few degrees colder. Maybe that was why his hands were trembling so much.

 

The planchette shifted up sharply, too sharply, far quicker than he’d expected.

YES.

 

Mako made a small noise of shock, her eyes widenening, and Hermann let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. Had he looked up, he could’ve seen Tendo slowly mouthing “no fucking way”, or Raleigh tensing, or Chuck leaning into the board with curiosity; but his eyes were focused on the board.

A question. He had to think of a question, he probably should’ve thought of some before- what do you usually ask people when you first meet them? Is it rude to ask how they died? What are the paranormal rules of conduct? He barely even knew how to communicate with the living.

“Ask its name,” Mako whispered in his ear, her voice tinged with excitement. Despite her obvious surprise, she seemed intrigued. Hermann couldn’t deny that he was interested too, though every particle in his body was screaming at him to stop it.

 

“Hold on, check how many there are first,” Raleigh spoke, his voice wavering a little. “There could be a bunch.”

 

“Yeah- uh, how many ghosts are there here?”

 

The forces seemed to have warmed up now, because it only took them ten seconds of hesitation before the planchette moved to the bold number 1.

 

“Do you have a name?” In his mind, Hermann knew already what it was going to be, but he prayed it wasn’t. Mako, too, seemed to tense a little as the planchette started to move again.

 

N - E - W -

 

“Oh, fuck off,” Hermann said softly as the planchette landed on T. 

 

“Newt?” Tendo raised an eyebrow. “That’s not, like, a name. That’s an animal.”

 

“Dude, don’t be rude to the ghost, it might kill us,” hissed Raleigh.

 

Hermann’s throat was dry as his mind raced to find more questions. Newt. As in, Newton Geiszler. So was this a ghost, or a demon? Would asking about how he died, what happened, if he was possessed- would it piss him off? “ _ After all, we don’t want to end up down there with the manual and Newton,”  _ Mako had said. Was he vengeful? What if he was-

 

“Herms?” 

 

Hermann jerked up at the sound of Tendo’s voice. His eyebrows were knitted together in concern. “Dude, if you don’t feel well, we can stop, it’s- it’s okay-”

 

“No, I’m fine.” Lying through his teeth was a habit he had to break, but this time it wasn’t for the others; it was out of his own damn curiosity. Every self preservation instinct he had was suddenly silent as he stared down at the board.

 

“Newt, you died here a few years ago, correct?”

 

The planchette almost immediately moved to YES. He blocked out Mako’s little huff, Tendo and Raleigh’s murmurs of shock, Chuck’s eerie silence. 

 

“Were you.. Were you possessed?”

 

There was a moment of hesitation before the the planchette shifted slightly, but still remained on YES.

 

“Is that its answer?” Raleigh murmured. 

 

“I think so,” Mako said. “Shit..”

 

Hermann frowned and shut his eyes again.

 

“Are you.. are you vengeful?”

 

He opened an eye cautiously, wondering if the others were going to jump away, but they seemed too focused on the board to care. Five pairs of eyes trained on the tiny plastic planchette, waiting anxiously for it to move. 

 

It began to drift.

 

GOODBYE.

 

Hermann almost immediately pulled his hands away from the planchette, holding them close to his chest. No answer. Had he pissed the ghost off..?

 

“Jesus,” hissed Tendo, taking his hands away. Mako and Raleigh did likewise, although a little slower. A heavy silence hung around the group as they waited for Chuck to move his hands.

 

“GUYS!!”

 

Hermann practically screamed at the noise as a figure appeared in the stairwell, their shrill voice tearing through the chilling atmosphere like a chainsaw. He felt a hand on his shoulder as Mako had clearly jumped, looking for support. He peered up at the person- if they were a person- making out scruffy blonde hair, wide eyes that looked as though they’d been crying-

 

“Chuck?!” Raleigh said in disbelief, standing up. Chuck Hansen almost immediately collapsed into his arms.

 

“Rals- I lost my cloak, and I was away looking for it, and then I was looking for you, and I got lost and I-” He paused, looking down at the board. “You started without me, and then I found my cloak but I saw a ghost and I fell and when I woke up I lost it again-”

 

“Wait, wait!” Tendo interrupted him, holding his head. “If you’re there..”

 

Everyone froze, their gazes drifting to the person in the ghost costume, with their pale hands still holding onto the planchette. Hermann felt Mako’s grip on his shoulder tighten so hard he thought she might draw blood.

 

“..Fuck.”

 

He wasn’t fully aware of who moved first, who the first person to jump up and run, who the first person to scream in terror was. He wasn’t sure who grabbed his hand as they were running down the stairs, he wasn’t sure of what was happening at all- the world seemed to blur at the edges as the five of them tried to push through the narrow stairwell, none of them daring to look behind incase the ghost was hot on their tail. Newt. He’d been there the entire time. He had never said if he was vengeful. He had never said if he was vengeful.

 

Hermann did not want to die. He did not want to die in an abandoned sewage factory at the hands of some.. demon. He didn’t want to be the headline in a conspiracy newspaper. He didn’t want to-

 

The floor cracked beneath him and he tripped, pain bursting across his head as it connected with the ground. Fucking bad leg. His hands grasped for something to pull him up, but the floor around him was flat and slippery, and his leg ached like a bitch, and as he raised his head he saw Raleigh and Chuck running, and Mako was looking at him and yelling something he couldn’t understand, and Tendo had stopped and was starting towards him with a look on his face that Hermann couldn’t even begin to describe, and his mind was racing and his head was bleeding and Tendo screamed as he began to run in the opposite direction, and-

 

Hermann flipped himself to look up at the ceiling, his breath coming quick and shallow. He could see light. Was he dying? No, he wasn’t. He remembered people telling him about death, it wasn’t like this- it was slow and gentle. You saw your life flash before your eyes.

 

This was something else. He was seeing something else.

 

This was Newton Geiszler.


	3. felix culpa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i’ll upload weekly  
> me: (disappears for a wholeass month)
> 
> i’m super sorry for the wait guys!! a lot of stuff is going on in my life rn (incl. applying for uni) so writing this really was. not my top priority dkhdhkhdkh BUT STILL im back on track now! i hope u enjoy!

When Hermann woke up, he quickly realised he was still alive. As soon as his memories of last night flooded back into his vision he sat up sharply, hands shooting out to grasp at something, anything. They found a blanket. 

 

"You're awake!" He heard Mako say, but her voice sounded distant and foggy. He didn't even know where he was; it wasn't the waterworks, that was for sure, but it wasn't home either. He was in a bed with black sheets, and there was a distinct ringing in his head that caused his thoughts to jump around and get jumbled. Through the brainfog he could make out minor details of the room; a window with early morning light beginning to glow through, a variety of band posters stuck on whitewashed walls.

 

"Mako?" he asked, his throat dry, voice a little higher than he would have liked. In his peripheral vision he saw her. She'd changed out of her witch costume and was sporting denim jeans and a leather jacket; was it Saturday now? He surely hadn't been unconscious the whole night.

 

"Chill, Gottlieb. Don't panic, you're in my room." She sat down on the bed beside him, passing him what he quickly recognised as his parka. He took it from her gratefully, finding its soft green material a vague comfort among his confusion. "How’re you feeling?"

 

Hermann paused, before making a vague gesture at his head. "Hurts."

 

She laughed a little at that, crossing her legs. "No wonder. You hit it pretty bad, man. Thought you might've had a concussion."

 

"I-" His hand flew to the source of the pain, and found bandages. "Was I in the hospital?"

 

"No, if we phoned emergency services we'd be arrested for trespassing. It's okay, Raleigh knows first aid. You're all patched up."

 

Well, he was glad to know the others had at least come back for him after initially running. So, the waterworks- Newton- he'd survived it. He'd survived whatever the hell.. that was. Images flashed before him as he tried to remember exactly what happened, but he could picture very little after he'd fallen. A hand on his shoulder, an odd warmth around his wound...

 

"Did you see him?"

 

Mako cocked an eyebrow, standing up. "Raleigh?"

 

"No, the.. Newton. The ghost."

 

She looked away, her shoulders tensing. "We saw something, that's for sure. Fuck knows what it was. By the time we came back up, the place was empty." She strode to the other side of her room, beginning to rifle through a chest of drawers. "Tendo says it was probably just our imagination."

 

"But-! It had Chuck's -"

 

"His cloak. I know, I don't believe it either." Her voice was deadpan as she pulled something out of the drawer, hiding it from Hermann's vision. "There was something there. I mean, we all saw the board work, but he's denying that too."

 

Hermann frowned, glancing out of the window. Judging by the sunbeams that were barely streaming over the hills, it was still early. "Because he's scared?"

 

"Probably. Oh," she added as she crossed back over, "I forgot to mention. He phoned your parents and said you were staying the night here, so don't worry."

 

"Oh, good-" He paused, processing the thought. "I'm staying the night at Mako Mori's?"

 

"You HAVE stayed the night at Mako Mori's," Mako corrected him, sitting back down on the bed. "In Mako Mori's bed, because she was so generous she let you have it while she slept on the couch."

 

Staying the night at a girl's house. His parents were going to kill him. Still, that was the least of his worries now. That thing, that- person last night, had not been a figment of his imagination. That had been real, he knew. He had seen it, felt it, heard it- he couldn't just go back to school every day and pretend nothing happened, that it had been a normal night. His mind wouldn’t let it rest without an explanation.

 

"I need to go back," he realised, his grip tightening around his parka.

 

To his surprise, Mako nodded and smiled. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

 

In her outstretched palm was the planchette.

 

"The board was gone, but we found this beside you. If you are going to go back up, it might be some help."

 

"You're not going to stop me?"

 

Mako rolled her eyes and snickered. "If I was a good friend, I would probably advise against it, but sometimes it's worth letting your curiosity get the best of you. Besides, you're a good guy, I can trust you enough to not get yourself killed."

 

She pressed the planchette into his hands, taking the opportunity to wrap her own ones around his. "Promise me you won't get yourself killed." Hermann looked up, and he realised that behind her sarcastic gaze, there was a spark of genuine concern. 

 

"I'll try my best," he replied, giving her the warmest smile he could manage. They sat for a moment like that in reserved silence, Hermann with his eyes closed in thought.

 

"Alright." Mako pulled her hands away sharply, pushing herself off the bed. "One more thing."

 

"Hm?"

 

"Get out of my house." She jabbed a finger towards her window. "Through there, because if you go through the main door my dad will kill us both."

  
  


-

  
  


By the time he reached the factory, it was just past noon, and the hot chocolate he'd bought on the way was beginning to chill. It was a generally cold day, he noted, watching his breath crystallize in the air as he began to search for the hole in the fence they had used yesterday; November 1st, now, so not long until the annual fireworks show. He usually went with Tendo, and figured this year would be no different, though he was unsure how Tendo would be after last night. Hermann very much doubted it would have damaged their friendship- rather, secured it- but he had a feeling that trying to bring the topic back up would be a lot harder. 

 

He scaled the fence with some difficulty, trying not to spill his drink, but managed over eventually. He must have not hurt his leg too badly last night, because the ache in it was significantly softer than usual, and even the pain in his head had started to dim. He took another sip of the hot chocolate, some fancy expensive Christmas version he'd bought to keep himself warm (even under the grey NASA sweater he'd thrown over a button-up shirt before leaving). 

 

Apprehension, he supposed, was the only way to describe how he felt. He wasn't going to die, he knew- hoped- after all, he had been spared last night. Perhaps the ghost wasn't vengeful after all, perhaps it just- well, he didn't have any ideas there. Maybe Tendo was right and it had been a trick of the light, or a prank, probably set up by one of Chuck's friends. Whatever the case, he was going to settle it today.

 

Instead of going through the main entrance again, he turned sharply and headed towards a second door on the other side of the building. When he opened it, he quickly recognised it as the area the balcony overlooked; the large tub in one corner, another door that looked like an office in another, and everything covered in a thick layer of grime. He couldn't help but gag a little when he pushed the door over and it squelched shut, shaking his hands to get rid of any.. residue. This place really was well and truly abandoned- he couldn't understand why it hadn't been torn down yet, though maybe it was to do with investigation, or superstition. Of course, the place that Newton died must be somewhere.. maybe it hadn't been changed much? Any evidence would have been carted away, but he recalled Mako saying that the floor had been scorched, symbols carved into it. He glanced around quickly, but couldn't see any obvious burn marks. Maybe it had been cleared after all.

 

Hermann crossed to the tub, pushing himself onto his tiptoes to peer inside. The scummy remains of what he didn't even want to imagine were scattered across it, the white tiles bleached an ugly yellow that reminded him of- well, he didn't want to think about it. He turned on his heel quickly, taking a quick sip of his drink again as he moved towards the center of the room. There was a small sheet of paper there which initially intrigued him, but he was disappointed to find it was part of the manual Mako had thrown over last night. The front was missing. She hadn't torn it apart before throwing it, had she? So someone else had been here. Someone else could potentially still be here.

 

Hermann remembered Tendo telling him this was a popular spot for drug dealers and wished he'd brought some sort of weapon.

 

It was in that moment he heard a faint noise, a thump, and he flinched away. Thump. Again, it was dull, but rhythmic, like a distant heartbeat. He would’ve presumed it was his own if he couldn’t already hear it drilling into his head. Immediately his mind went haywire with panic, images of men with hoods and bats leaping through as he tried to identify the source of the noise. It was definitely coming from his right. The office, maybe? That would explain why it felt so.. muffled, but it didn’t put him at ease. Every fiber of his body was screaming to get the hell out of there.

 

Against his better judgement, he crossed to the office and anxiously placed a pale hand on the cold doorknob. He couldn’t hear anything new, no ragged breathing, no quiet sobs for help; just the damned beat, making him wonder if he was really trembling that much or if it was just the vibrations. There was no window to the door; plain wood, like all the others. He twisted the knob once, finding it was unlocked, and with a deep breath he pushed it open.

 

It was music. Of fucking course. Idiot.

 

A small but surprisingly powerful Bluetooth speaker sat atop what looked like a normal school desk. Hermann sighed with relief and cursed his anxiety as he realised the noise had been the drums, a bassline, or something; the music was poppy, quite 80s, something he felt like he should recognise but couldn’t recall the name of. Upon scanning the rest of the small room he realised it had been refurbished; not an office, but more of a bedroom, at least judging by the camp-bed that lay untidy in one corner. On the wall above this was a large corkboard with so much data and notes on it he couldn’t even begin to comprehend it; each note was punctuated with a bright red tack, and interconnected by equally scarlet string. It reminded him of the ones you saw on daytime crime dramas, albeit this wasn’t on a map. The rest of the room was just as chaotic, with odd flyers and diagrams scattered all across the concrete floor. Hermann knelt to pick one up and found it covered in strange symbols, sketched in a ballpoint pen. They weren’t in any language he recognised.

 

The door blew shut behind him, making him jump up and stumble into a corner. The room was somewhat claustrophobic, only being about twenty square metres, and it made him wonder if anyone actually lived here. Maybe this was where the detectives stayed during the investigation into Newton’s death, although he had never heard of such practice. Besides, there would be no reason for them to still have furniture here- unless the investigation was still ongoing-

 

A sharp noise from above caused Hermann to recede further into the corner, falling into a sitting position as he glanced up to the ceiling. More of those symbols, covering the entire thing, some scratched into it, some painted on. A strange humming noise coming from the room above. 

 

Ever so slowly, a figure drifted through, their limbs effortlessly sprouting from the concrete as though it were liquid. A torso, clothed in a coffee-stained t-shirt, a denim jacket and a black charm necklace that hung loose around their pale neck, short and messy brown hair that floated midair as though they were underwater. They faced away from Hermann, towards the board, continuing to hum softly. The music. 

 

Hermann clasped his hands around his mouth, biting his cheek so hard he thought it might draw blood, in an effort to stop himself from screaming. This- this must be Newton. Again. As stupid as it sounded, he couldn’t help but notice that he seemed more docile than he had last night; rather than a blur of colour and screams this one seemed almost human, a spectre. Had he not been submerged waist-deep in the ceiling and faintly glowing with an almost sickly green tint, he could have easily passed for human.

 

Newton emerged fully from the ceiling, revealing black jean pants and worn red sneakers as he drifted over to the board, singing softly under his breath. His voice was high, childish, but in no way the banshee screams or guttural demonic tongues Hermann had worried about. No, this was.. quite sweet, he had to admit- not perfect, but pleasing to the ear nonetheless, or it would be if he wasn’t so certain he was about to die.

 

_ “Tired of TV, I open the window and I gaze into the night,”  _ Newton sang as he scanned the corkboard. That’s what it was, ABBA. Hermann was surprised he hadn’t recognised it quicker.   _ “But there’s nothing there to see, no one in sight..” _

He continued, a little quieter, as he took a sheet from the board and immediately leapt up, disappearing into the ceiling again. He left a slight scent of marjoram in the room and nothing more.

 

“Holy shit,” Hermann breathed.

 

Now seemed like a good idea to move; he didn’t know how soon Newton would be back, and he didn’t want to find himself face to face with him again. He had got what he came for, he had proved it to himself- it WAS real, it hadn’t been a dream- but he didn’t have any definite proof. He could already hear Tendo mockingly saying so, asking if he’d really been to the waterworks or if he was just lying, and his grip on his drink tightened. Staying to try and get picture evidence was probably his stupidest idea yet, but the impulsive part of him he almost never let through was just begging to take over. He reached to take his phone from his jeans but was surprised as he remembered he’d also pocketed the planchette Mako had given him earlier. Hermann pulled it out and held it in his cupped hands, his thumbs tracing over the smooth plastic. It was surprisingly calming, despite its fragility making him wonder how easily it would crack even in his weak hands.

 

“Oh, damn! You came back!”

 

Hermann’s eyes snapped up to the figure that had materialised in front of him. Their eyes were wide, a murky green colour even without the odd spiritual glow that surrounded them, and amplified by a pair of thick crack glasses. Their hands seized forwards, ripping the planchette from Hermann’s grasp as he stared open-mouthed.

 

“I was really hoping one of you would come back actually,” Newton explained, shifting himself into an upright position but still floating midair as he fiddled with the planchette. “I expected the badass girl, but like, you’re cool too.”

 

Hermann felt like he should be offended, but any comeback he tried to say just became a noiseless motion of disbelief.

 

“You know, a lot of people have visited this place over the last few years-” -God, why did he speak so fast and so loud?- “-but you guys are the first one who were smart enough to actually bring like, some actual good equipment, I mean even the paranormal investigators RIGHT after I died didn’t bring anything cool, so they didn’t find anything, I mean really I would’ve chosen something a bit more high-brow than Hasbro but it did the job so that’s really all that matters, I guess!” He clapped his hands together and gave Hermann a warm smile, pausing for breath. He looked at him expectantly, as though he was waiting for his contribution.

 

“Uh.. yeah,” Hermann managed to stutter eventually.

 

That seemed good enough for Newton, because he beamed and nodded. “Yeah! Oh, shit, I never even introduced myself. I think you know already but like, societal convention and all that, so-“ 

 

He took his free hand and grasped one of Hermann’s, shaking it vigorously. Hermann really could not think of any words to describe how it felt to shake hands with a ghost- a little like getting a small static shock, a little like the phantom feeling you get on your leg when you think a spider’s crawling up it, and all around an experience that warmed his hand up immensely, as though Newt were a human(?) water bottle.

 

“I’m Newton Geiszler but most people call me Newt, and uh, that’s about it really. This is my bedroom and I would prefer if you knocked next time but since you’re my first guest in ages and you kinda freed me from spiritual sleep I’ll forgive you! What’s your name, again?”

 

Hermann didn’t have the energy to respond. In all honesty, he felt like he was about to faint, and Newt’s voice (like a cross between a box of rusty nails and a broken squeaky toy) was not helping his already frazzled brain.

 

“Not a talker, huh? It’s okay, I’ll do the talking for both of us.” Newt laughed at his own joke, taking the planchette and experimentally placing it in his mouth, chewing lightly on the plastic coating. “Fuck, it tastes nasty. Oh well, worth a try. Don’t suppose you’ve got any food, huh? I don’t  _ need  _ to eat but I do really like to and it’s been, like, a year since my last snack, it was this really nice little pastry thing from-“

 

Hermann never found out where, because it was this moment his brain suddenly realised the absolute severity of the situation- he was talking to a fucking GHOST- and he passed out.

 

The last thing he registered before his vision left him was Newt looking disappointed and mouthing what looked like “Not again!”


End file.
